A Napa Fairytale: The Groom and Bride Speak

After the best man cheers'ed to a long marriage and lots of babies, the groom took the mic and delivered his speech. He had been preparing for awhile and he personally thanked almost everyone in the room. I don't know why I was so nervous for him to speak, but I felt like I was holding my breath the whole time. I was finally able to exhale when he raised his glass and toasted our guests.

Then suddenly everyone was looking at me! What? I hadn't prepared to speak! I didn't think brides did that! But there was an odd silence and a weird anticipation in the room so I stood as my mom gave me that look, as if to say "your turn". Well, I thought, I'm good at winging it!

We all know I'm not the shy type and I'm quite comfortable being on stage, so I just went for it. I thanked my parents for making the gorgeous evening possible, making their only daughter's wedding dreams come true, and Dr. Houtz for adding that extra special touch and traveling from Hershey to officiate the ceremony.

I let my eyes wander around the room, saying something special about Mr. Barrettes' family, our siblings, my high school friends, my 18 younger cousins, and when my eyes finally came to rest at my bridal party table, I started to crack.

I called out Amy and thanked her for being one of the only friends on Guam I didn't have to be fake or drunk to be around--she liked that one. She had spent the last year being our third-wheel, dining, hiking, and hanging out with Mr. Barrettes and I, and she knew us as a couple better than anyone. 

Talking about my man-of-honor was easy. I told the story of how we met 10 years ago, falling in love with eachother as we spent almost everyday together for 6 months. It was the start of a beautiful friendship because, "as I thought I was falling in love with him, I quickly realized he just didn't quite like me like that."

Last came my groom. I told our guests we had been looking for each other and we were lucky enough to find one another on a tiny little island in the middle of the Pacific. It started slow, but within weeks we were inseparable, within months we were living together, and one month later he proposed. Our 2-year engagement was not without trials and moments of drama, but we were learning about each other and what we had learned was that we wanted to share the best years of our lives together.

I thanked him for loving me the way I needed to be loved and for accepting me as I was, a silly mess of imperfections, crazy ideas, and dreams of a fun-filled, big life.

(photos by Luke Snyder Studio)

I thanked everyone for making their way to wine country to be with us on such a magical day and we raised our glasses to me and my new husband! There would be no more tears and the party swung into 5th gear!